Combination organ stop mechanism



March 14, 1933- I J. "r. AVUSTIN 1,901,623

COMBINATION ORGAN STOP MECHANISM Filed May 7, 1932 gwuentoz John T Austin Patented Mar. 14, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN T. AUSTIN, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIG-NOR TO THE AUSTIN ORGAN COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT COMBINATION ORGAN STOP MECHANISM Application filed Kay 7, 1932. Serial No. 609,829.

The present invention relates to musical instruments having a plurality of stops and rollers for operating the same, and especially relates to a mechanism for capturing a combination of organ stops.

When an organist is playing or fingering an organ, he may run across a Combination of stops which particularly appeals to him, and he may wish to capture that combination immediately after he has improvised it for reproduction at some subsequent time. Heretofore, in order to record that combination on a trace, it has been necessary for the organist to pull the trace and individually operate the pellets or stop keys associated with .the several rollers, and this has re quired not only considerable time but also requires that the organist remember the combination of stops which he desires, it being understood that the position of the several rollers is disturbed when the selected trace is first pulled into setting position.

The aim of the present invention is to provide an improved arrangement by means of which the organist may very easily and quickly capture (that is, record on any desired trace) the combination ofstops, as soon as he has finished'playing that combination, without the necessity of attempting to recall from memory what that combination was. With these ends in view, the present invention provides a mechanism which will hold the various rollers in the positions given them by the organist while he was improvising the piece. WVhile the rollersare thus positively held in these positions,.the organist will draw a trace and, since the rollers are held fixed, the actuators on this trace will be set by the rollers in accordance with the positions of the respective rollers. It is thus seen that later on, when the organist desires to recapture the combination of stops which produces the pleasing combination of tones, it will only be necessary for 'l him to depress the piston associated with the trace, the actuators of which have been set previously, as described above. It is thus apparent, with such an arrangement as the present invention provides, that an organist will be enabled, at any desired time, to recapture a combination of tones which he I particularly fancies and thus this pleasing combination of tones will not be lost to the organist, but will be at all times available to him for immediate recapture when 4f desired.

.The present invention also provides a deyice of this kind that is few in parts, simple 1n construction, and one that is not liable to easily get out of order; therefore, the cost after set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein is shown, for illustrative purposes, one embodiment which the present invention may t take,

Fig.1 is a rear view of a portion of an organ showing the present invention applied thereto; and

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, 10 designates a plurality of traces disposed in parallel relation and of the usual construction found in organs, for example, these traces are shown as being of the kind disclosed in my earlier Patent No. 1,078,079, dated November 11, 1913. In the drawing, only two such traces are shown, but is to be understood that any desired number of these traces may be used, and they are adapted to be actuated by the usual pistons, not illustrated. The traces 10 carry the usual cams or actuators 11 which are adapt-ed to operate the rollers 12. The rollers 12 are of the usual type found in organs and are pivotally mounted in the frame of the organ. One of these pivotal mountings is more clearly shown in Fig. 2 wherein a pivot 13 on one of the rollers 12 is shown as being pivotally carried by a bearing 14- which, in turn, is

fixedly carried by an element X of the organ frame. Extending from the free end of this pivot 13 and outwardly of the element X is a crank 15. Secured to this crank 15, adjacent the outer free end thereof, is one end of a link 16 the upper free end of which is pivotally secured to the body of a stop key 17 pivoted, as at 18, to the frame of the organ. It is to be understood that one of these stop keys 1'? with its connecting link 16 is provided for each roller so that each roller may be independently operated to pull the stop with which it is associated. All of the above elements are more or less conventional- In order to capture a desired combination of stops, the following improved mechanism is provided. A bar 19 is transversely disposed above the'rollers 12 and is mounted for swinging movement upon the element X of the organ by means of hinges 20. The bar 19 has a stud 19 extending from one end thereof and is provided with a plurality of fingers 21, the number of fingers preferably corresponding to the number of rollers and each finger is mounted upon the bar 19 immediately above the axis ofrotation of its respective roller. The bar 19 is adapted to be swung downwardly upon the hinges 20 so that each of the fingers 21 willengage in front of or behind its respective roller,

depending upon the position of the roller. The fingers 21 are tapered from their point of attachment to the bar 19, outwardly in order to facilitate their engagement in front of or behind the rollers.

In order to swing thebar from its inoperative to its operative position, any suitable means may be provided, the following being shown by way of example. A link 22 has one end pivotally secured to the stud-19, and this link extends downwardly through an elongated slot 31 in an element Y of the organ frame and has its lower free end pivotally securedto the free end of the arm 23 of. a bell crank lever 24. This bell crank lever 24 is pivotally secured, as at 25, to a bracket 26 which is mounted upon and depends from the element Y of the frame of the organ. The other arm 27 of the bell crank lever has pivotally secured thereto,

' adjacent its free end, one end of a piston rod 28 which extends through a suitable opening in the element X' of the frame of the organ. The outer free end of this piston rod has mounted thereon abutton 29. The bar 19 is normally held in its inoperative position by means of a coiled spring 30, one end of which is secured to the inner face of the element X of the frame of the organ, and the other end of which is attached to the free end of the arm 27 of the bell crank lever.

; The operation of the device is as follows:

Assuming that a number of rollers 12 have off position of the rollers, and will hold these rollers fixed against movement.

The organist will now depress a piston to draw a trace and, since the rollers are fixed against movement, the cams or actuators on this trace will be set inaccordance with. the

positions of the rollers. At any time later on when the organist desires to play the combination of tones which pleased him it will only be necessary for him to depress the piston associated with the trace, the actuators of which have been previously set as described above. In this way, it is apparent that the rollers will be moved again to the positions which they assumed when the pleasing combination of tones was previously played.

- With the arrangement above described, it is clear that one of the traces of the organ may have its cams or actuators definitely and exactly set in accordance with. the positions assumed by the rollers when certain selected stops have been pulled to produce a pleasing combination of tones. turing of the pleasing combination of stops is therefore not left to the memory of the organist since, as soon as he has finished playing that combination and before he draws a trace to disturb the selected positions of the rollers, the bar 19 and its fingers 21 are lowered to hold the rollers in their respective on and off positions. The trace upon which the combination of stops is to be recorded is then drawn, and its actuators or cams set in accordance with the positions of the various rollers after which the bar 19 and its fingers 21 may then be swung free of the rollers.

As'many changes could be mace in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of, this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Itis also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all'of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, asa matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention: 7

1. A mechanism for capturing a combi- The capnation of organ stops comprising a plurality of rollers adapted to pull said stops, traces having adjustable cams thereon for independently engaging and moving said rollers, and common means for holding all of said rollers against movement while a trace is being drawn, whereby the cams on the drawn trace will be set in accordance with the positions of said rollers.

2. A mechanism for capturing a combination of organ stops comprising a plurality of elements one of which is associated with each stop and adapted to pull the same, a plurality of adjustable elements each of which is adapted to engage and move a corresponding one of said first mentioned elements, and common means for holding all of said first mentioned elements against 'movement while the adjustable elements are being brought into contact with the first mentioned elements, whereby the adjustable elements will be set in accordance with the positions of said first mentioned elements.

thereby, and means for swinging said bar on its hinges.

7. In an organ having the usual rollers and traces provided with adjustable cams, a. bar having a plurality of fingers extending therefrom and adapted to have swinging movement towards said rollers to bring said fingers into engagement with said rollers to 3. A mechanism for capturing a combinar the latter, and common means for holding,

the first mentioned means against movement while the adjustable means are actuated, whereby the adjustable means will be set in accordance with the positions of the first mentioned means.

4:. In an organ having the usual rollers and traces provided with adjustable cams, a plurality of fingers adapted to be brought into engagement with the respective rollers to hold the same against movement while the cams are brought into engagement with said rollers and are adjusted thereby, and means for moving said fingers into and out of holding position.

5. In an organ having the usual rollers and traces provided with adjustable cams, a bar disposed transversely of said rollers and having a plurality of fingers thereon adapted to be brought into engagement with said rollers to hold the same in on or off position while the cams are brought into engagement with said rollers and are adjusted thereby, and means for moving said fingers into and out of holding position.

6. In an organ having the usual rollers and traces provided with adjustable cams, a bar hinged to the frame of said organ and disposed transversely of said rollers and having a plurality of fingers thereon adapted to be brought into engagement with said rollers to hold the same in on or off position while the cams are brought into engagement with said rollers and are adjusted 

